Digital Card Central

I posted earlier today about the issues surrounding the giveaway for 2015 Bunt coins in packs of Topps Series 2 Baseball. There was another element at play that have turned out to be very worth our attention – the player code cards. Well, I was able to acquire one of these special cards from a breaker at my local shop, and they look to be as good as advertised.

Check it out:

Yes – you see that right, they are /25 copies only, AND 5x boost PERMANENTLY! With how rare these cards are, and how powerful they are in the game, I think it goes without saying that these could be highly sought after in just about every way. Im pumped I was able to get my hands on it!

How they work is there is a long code on the back that you redeem at a website on the Topps.com website. I am going to guess that the card will then be delivered to you in the game.

The checklist is posted on this site a few days back, with some of the top players in the game. To get a shot at one of these, they are ONLY in Topps Series 2 Hobby Packs, at odds of 1:917 packs. Going to be a rare pull for sure.

Very cool promotion here, even though many of these cards may never see the light of day. If you pull one or get one, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

This morning, Topps released 5 new teal cards onto the Star Wars Card Trader sheet, and for the first time, we are seeing base cards that dont exist in the normal parallels.

Many of us have speculated that this is the first preview of the next round of base cards, most of which we have been waiting quite a while for. If you have been in the app since day one, pretty easy to guess that your card sheet is looking something like mine. You probably have at least 50 copies of each common, and a new round of base could add a fresh and welcome departure from that.

The five released are:

• Sarlacc (in all its glory)
• Ewok
• Rancor (YES!)
• Dianoga
• Fixer Loneozner

To see the Sarlacc pit get its time in the sun along side the Rancor is awesome, and though the Ewok card isnt all that special, it does give us the first base card representing a GROUP of people instead of one representative. Could there be a Stormtrooper card on the way? Imperial Guard?

Im not sure who the others are, but there will be a lot of those cards coming. There are only a finite group of characters until the new movie is released, so I guess we will have to make due with the C and D list of guys from background in the first six episodes and cartoons.

Either way – im very excited to see what is coming.

Over the last few weeks, Star Wars sets have changed a bit. Where it used to be that a set had one or two variants, now they have four or five. In some ways, this can very good for the people who want to collect, where as other times it can be annoying. I wanted to walk through some of my thoughts after spending time chasing some recent sets.

Background

Its worth discussing that the first of the weekly sets had 2 variants to it. Nightbrothers had the base, the red and the inverse black. I mean, this isnt a brand new concept, and it should be expected that Topps wants to maximize the potential of each potential set. Maximize is a relative term, as it can mean anything from profit to accessibility. Although none of the weekly sets have had a variant – YET – the subsidiary inserts have had a relative pattern of parallels. To say this is brand new, isnt really accurate. To say they have expanded upon an existing structure is likely a better way of looking at it.

Why More Parallels Are a Good Thing

I have said it time and time again, no one likes to open packs and walk away empty handed. Its literally the worst feeling in the game, other than getting your stuff stolen by a scammer. Adding more content to packs is something that many people will find to be welcome, even if it means that the card counts have to be higher to justify it.

Lets be completely honest with ourselves and really think about it. Is anyone really upset that they pull a few extra inserts in their packs? I want to see that argument played out, because I fail to see how that is something to be upset about. Even if the inserts themselves have very little value overall, they do provide something that Star Wars has been lacking since the pack structure change.

Accessibility for free players is a huge thing for the majority of the people who play the game. Although there is a contingent of users who are spending a crapload of money every day, there are others who are trying to scrape by with what they can. Topps wants to get as many people to buy those credit bundles as they can, and if you are basically guaranteed an insert from certain sets with the cheapest bundle bought, that could inspire a lot more purchases. With more purchases comes more people who are looking to trade, buy and sell their cards, which is good for the overall economy.

Why More Parallels Are a Bad Thing

The only real argument I can muster on this one, is continuity and complexity of the sets. With more parallels, there are so many different elements to chase, especially when the packs can be separated into Master and Regular flavors. I have had a few instances of opening a master pack of a set and not getting the cards I was expecting, mainly because they were only available in the regular packs.

When you consider how complicated some of the releases have been, to the point where the packs get messed up (Gold Annakin situation from yesterday), it might be better to think about a more straightforward approach. I like that they are trying to keep things fresh, but let me walk you through what the release was like for the posters:

• White posters were only available in the flash pack, which was available at very specific times
• Blue posters were only available for 48 hours
• Gold posters were a bundle attachment
• Green and red were the normal inserts

I mean, for a new user, that is a daunting structure to understand – made even more difficult when trying to trade and determining value. The Shadowboxes set is a pretty similar situation in number, but very much more straightforward. I think the simplicity of the release should be something of major focus, and that gets more apparent each time a new set comes out.

Bottom line, I expect the Topps team to do what they can to get the most money flowing through the pipeline. I had a very fun time tracking down all the blue posters, and busting shadowboxes packs too. This discussion is one I am seeing more and more frequently, and if you feel things should be done a certain way, I would encourage you to make your voice hear in a constructive way. Topps does listen quite a bit, and they value that type of feedback. I hope more people find a way to give as much as they can.

Over the last few years, there has been a number of times where Bunt has brought celebrity content to the app. Most recently, Jim Breuer was given his own card and signature, as well as Paul Rudd back during the World Series last year. As of yesterday, we get the best of that content to date in the Will Ferrell inserts digitized from their counterparts in 2015 Topps Archives baseball.

For those of you who havent seen, Ferrell pulled a relatively impressive feat of playing all nine positions for nine different teams during Spring Training this year. To commemorate the day, Topps had acquired the rights to produce cards of Ferrell in each of the uniforms he played in. I am ridiculously excited that Bunt was able to get the cards as well, as it will make for a very fun chase.

On the physical side, the Ferrell cards are already some of the more popular baseball cards of the year, especially for his extremely rare autograph card. A few of them have already sold for hundreds of dollars, and the Dodgers one sold for 2k! Wow. Just wow.

Although I wish we would get the autograph card as a variant of some sort in Bunt, it doesnt look like that is in the cards for now.

Stuff like this is always fun for me, as it breaks from the norm of the usual inserts that Bunt puts out on a regular basis. Its fun to chase down all the cards, and if it isnt up your alley, no big deal.

At least for me, Ferrell’s movies have always been among my favorites, and though he may be a polarizing comedian, his popularity is undeniable.

For a very long time, I have pleaded with the guys who make Topps Baseball to involve Bunt into the flagship product in any way they can. Whether it be code cards for packs or coins, or even special codes on the back of the cards that give access to that player in the game. As many times as I made that suggestion, as many times I was told, “sorry, that’s just not something we are looking to do at this point.”

Well, my friends, with the release of the checklist for Series 2, it looks like my dream has come true. With the release of the checklist for Topps Baseball series 2, included is a special section. There is a checklist of designated “code cards” for Bunt that was included along with the rest of the set.

Here is the player list:

Although we arent quite sure what these cards could represent, its pretty clear that there is some sort of redemption code element to the cards. They could be base, they could be special boosts, or they could be inserts. We just dont know at this point. However, we do know that Bunt is going to be a part of the product. We also know that the only way to get access to this set is through Series 2 packs.

Here is TOPPSMIKE’s confirmation:

https://twitter.com/TOPPSMIKE/status/608340182585245696

For all of you who arent collectors of physical cards, this is a VERY big deal. Not only does it open the door for potential tie ins with the other games in the many Topps Products, but it sure adds a fun chase to Series 2. Now that we see that the physical tie in is possible, will there be other things that you can eventually pull out of packs? I am giddy with anticipation. Can you imagine similar things for Huddle or Kick? Topps also produces physical packs for Star Wars as well! Endless potential here.

Series 2 is being released in stores in less than two weeks on 6/17, I would guess plenty of information is going to be available as soon as release gets closer.